Lieutenant Kaok
"G-goat?" Kaok Jayim (Kaok meaning ''Hare ''or ''Rabbit in Satyrspeak'') is a half-Gaian Faun half-Human soldier originally from the village of Tragicosos. She's been allied with several organizations before, from the Gaian Army to the Galactic Roman Empire and is currently working with the Resistance to try and put Remus back on the throne. __TOC__ Biography Early Life Kaok was born in a small Faun village in the Gaian forests to a family of seven other children, each particularly healthy and strong. Though none would admit it, everyone knew that she was half human and the spawn of the Human trader that made frequent visits, ex-soldier William Ackley. The villagers pretended that she had been deformed, as she did not grow horns in the first few days after she was born and she was two-thirds the size of all the other newborns. Yeset, Kaok's mother's husband, took her as his own to spare Mandia the shame of having slept with a human. In all her time in the village, no one told Kaok that her father was a human. She grew up mostly despised by everyone - though as with her heritage, no one would admit it. When other children were having their arranged marriages fixed up, she was left out, not that this bothered her all that much. What ''bothered ''her was that they all, even her parents to a large degree, treated her as though she were diseased. Kaok grew to hate the Fauns' frivolous way of life and sought another race's culture. She found this in the tiny bits of Human society that William Ackley brought to the village to trade. (While the Fauns would not accept a Human as a part of their society, trading was fair game.) Ackley knew full well that this girl was his daughter, but said nothing about this in the many times that they met each other. He became the only person ever to accept her. For years, Kaok continued to meet with William, growing more and more attached to Human life and ways, but on the rare occasion she would still try to fit in with her own people. At the age of 6, she attempted to whittle wooden horns to wear. In the process she accidentally cut her fingers several times, and after she was finished all of the other children were jealous because she had made hers bigger than theirs 'and that's just cheating'. They threw rocks at her as she ran away. She whittled them down smaller, but the same thing happened again and again until her wooden horns were just saw dust. The other children laughed, and she did not attempt the same thing again. At a certain point she did not actively try to impress her people, but tried to survive amongst them. She would wear clothes in private, but not in public, as Fauns believed that clothes were a disgraceful way to hide beauty. Jewelry, however, was a way to enhance beauty and the more jewelry one had the better they were. She would wear an average amount, as it would not get her harrassed. She secretly slipped away from the religious orgies in the center of the village and in the Gokhesk (''or ''Communion of Pan) she would replace her wine with a non-alcoholic grape juice. Durem At 19, once she had come of age as per her society's rules, she left Tragicosos swearing never to come back. She moved in with William (unaware that this was strange) in Durem. Their talks and Human-lessons had given her a fair command of the English language, but she still had a heavy Greek accent and knew only a small amount about Human culture as a whole. He promised that he would teach her everything else, and that exposure to them and their ways would help her learn faster. She lived there two years with him, working as a janitor. Towards the end of the time, William came out to Kaok that he was depressed and desperately needed someone to talk with him. Frightened and refusing to believe that her role-model could be mentally unstable, she shut him down. This happened a number of times, frequently over the the next few weeks. Then for about a month, there was no emotional instability apparent. Kaok started to believe that perhaps his problem had gone away on its own, and the two got along nicely. At the end of that month, however, Kaok came home from work to find that William had killed himself by hanging. She did not recover quickly, and lived mostly in silence for the next few days. When it was apparent that her salary alone could not sustain her living in that apartment, she had to find another job or another place to live. She found both at the same time when she enlisted in the Gaian Army, just as Will had done as a young man. The Gaian Army Starting Out At first, life in the army was exceedingly more difficult than life in Durem. Kaok was the only Faun currently enlisted, and it seemed that most of her fellow soldiers took her for being just like the other Fauns they'd heard about. Several of them faced a hoof to the groin when they propositioned her, and at least one, Sgt. Henley Kendricks, attempted to force himself on her. This, combined with her guilt and grief for William, made her focus all of her energy on training. But she was a horrible shot, and the only thing that she really managed to suceed at in the early days was hand-to-hand combat. This only provoked those that hated her, they mocked her and said that a goat couldn't do a thing in the army. Some started spreading rumors that she was running from the law. She started resenting everyone around her and inside her there were stirrings of a rebellious attitude. There was a conflict that broke out in Aekea, that called all regiments to fight back a horde of malfunctioning impossibly powerful bots. Kaok's regiment was called in after three others were beaten down by just 50 of the machines. They were resistant to bullets, and the only other weapons that the army had were the officer's ceremonial sabres, which were real but for the most part the regiment didn't know how to use them. They fired round upon round futilely at the bots, until Kaok grew tired of it all and drew her CO's rapier. She ran off into the heat of battle wielding the thing, apparently, at the close range that the rapier brought it was possible to see the weak spot that the machines possessed. Jayim ran the robot through with her blade and soon the tables were turned. The rest of the soldiers began to utilize this up close technique. The regiment won the battle and Kaokie was honored for her part in this. As a Sergeant Soon after the Battle of Aekea, Kaok was promoted to Sergeant. She, on equal footing with Kendricks, frequently argued tactics with him to their Lieutenant. During this time, she managed to revive the art of sword-fighting in the Gaian Army, and taught her technique to many a soldier - whilst trying to learn it herself, as she had the natural talent, but no formal training - both below and above her in rank. Her captain, Quinton Raleigh, even learned from her. On a mission to the North Pole, to resolve some issues with St. Nick, Kaok and Kendricks were separated from their platoon and taken as PoWs. The elves there were 'certainly hospitable', but due to her inexperience, and Henley's purposeful neglect to inform her, Kaok drank a glass of water, containing germs from the area that she had no immunity to. She became very ill, and their captors did all they could to try and save her, but it only served to worsen the situation. At a point, the sylvan-elf Elf (Sylvan) Dr. Cairndeer, a neutral party not allied with Gaia or Santa, was called in to fix her. Familiar with Faun anatomy and medicine, he cured her soon. Kaok was immensely grateful, as the situation had been pure agony. During the process she had 'experienced seizures, hallucinations, severe mood swings and thoughts of suicide' , praying to 'at least a hundred different gods in at least a hundred different religions'. This incident served to make her mysophobic for a short while, as well as bring her to respect the enemy in any battle she's in. While Kaok spent the rest of her time in her cell, Cairndeer stayed to keep her healthy, the two began to talk. In a matter of days, they had become nearly best friends, for absence of any others in either of their lives. Dr. Cairndeer would join the Gaian Army as a medic not long after this. When Jayim and Kendricks were finally set free, there was even more tension between them. She claimed that he had let her get sick, but he claimed that this was preposterous. No formal consequence was given to him, and they just carried on hating each other. A month later, the company was called out to pacify a group of spear-wielding radicals, who were exceedingly violent. Kaok and the other sword-wielders amongst the group were at an advantage to Henley and the other gun-wielders, who were forced into short-range combat. An enemy attempted to kill Sgt. Kendricks while his back was turned, but Kaok jumped in front of the weapon. She was speared through the chest, and only by some miracle it didn't go through anything vital. Cairndeer was called in to save her life once again. She spent a week recovering, was commended for her bravery, and marked forever by a scar on her chest. After a variety of increasingly brave acts, she was promoted again to First Lieutenant. As a Lieutenant After a series of successful battles, she suffered a catastrophic loss at the hands of an enemy army of Vampires. She lost all but two of her fifty men due to a fluke of judgment. It was apparent immediately to any one watching that it was the Lieutenant who messed up. As she was generally a good officer, a discharge was out of the question. Demotion was not called for, as this was indeed the first time she had messed up in this manner. She was instead given a de facto punishment. Instead of any formal consequence, the Lieutenant was assigned the army's 45 least promising recruits. Most, if not all, were miscreants that they had no better place for. There were only three that stood out as competent: Sgt. Wallace Goldrose, Sgt. Robin Rook and Sgt. Haosin Drennis. But Goldrose was elderly and Drennis unbearable. Most of her time was spent conversing with Goldrose or Rook, and they became her confidants. Her losing streak on the battlefield continued. During one battle, against unrecognizable creatures, she even blacked out. In the height of this development, she lost several of her new recruits, which disheartened the platoon, but forced them awake out of their stupor. Their next battle was nearly lost as well, but Sgt. Drennis turned the tides, just as Kaok had before at Aekea, and in an almost dizzying amount of time, Drennis was promoted twice. As Raleigh retired, he became the new Captain of her company. Kaok wasn't happy with this. In the Battledome In the Beginning In her first few visits to the Battledome, Kaok was very much unsuccessful, getting herself landed in the garbage after nearly every fight. It took a bit of time to adjust to the swing of things there. It was there, though, that she first met the Imperator. In their first few battles, they treated each other with a certain amount of respect, and Kaok began to look up to Remus. She didn't start to befriend anyone just yet, but rather put herself on fair terms with several people. The Waning Vestal Rather than on the Battlefield, it was places like the Waning Vestal that Kaok strengthened and grew in her relationships with others. She met with Remus and Emma of Bainbridge frequently there and in the Training Dimension in the GRE. It was there that she developed her respect for the Imperator more and grew to see him in a new light. She'd grown certain feelings for him, and had a bit of a crush. Lady Emma convinced her that a relationship with a human could work out, and that Remus had the same feelings for her. In a friendly encounter in the TD, Remus challenged Kaok to a duel - loser buys dinner. Kaok lost, and they had their first date in the Vestal. Things escalated from there. Enter Romulus When the news of Remus' apparent death - at the hands of his brother unit Romulus - reached her, Kaok was devastated. She went somewhat insane for a short period, brutally mutilating the mime, Suzy, in the Battledome. Her brain tried to fix itself - amidst grief, anger and a raging voice that tried to placate the other two. While things looked bad, hope was always just around the corner. They embarked on a mission to fix what Romulus had screwed up, bring Remus back to life and put him on the throne again. Each success along the way brought her a little closer to being right again, (and a little closer to believing in something she'd never believed in before). When Remus was revived, Kaok's life was complete. Though the following hours were confusing and terrifying, she readied herself for the final battle. Skills and Weaknesses Weapons *Rapier: Most weapons that their wielders have a name, this is not the case with Kaokie's rapier. It needs no name. *Gun: Kaokie refrains from using her gun, as she has notoriously bad aim. *Pan-Flute: Recently a particularly brown-nosing recruit gave the Lieutenant a pan-flute claimed to be blessed by the Very High Priest himself. She didn't believe his story, but used it anyways - with an interesting effect. It lulls people to sleep. This small magical item gave the Lieutenant some confidence in dealing with magic-users. Strengths/Weaknesses *Excellent Swordswoman: Not much has ever come so naturally to the Lieutenant than fencing or sword-fighting. While she was indeed a novice around the first time she used a rapier, she showed more promise than in any other of the recruits in this area. *Well-known Tactician: The Lieutenant is reknown within the army for her use of any and every talent her soldiers possess. It is said that one of her soldiers told her he could sneeze on command, and that she formed a table-turning strategy around this. *The Unmagical Magical Creature: In addition to her ineptitude with guns, Kaokie has also never been able to use or understand magic. *Science: She's been known to dabble in scientific experiments and ventures, but merely as a hobby, she's never made any discoveries and she manages to hurt herself in the process most times. Personality On the battlefield, Kaok is focussed, intense and determined. She gives mercy if asked for and fights with honor, but also with her all. Many accuse her of being too uptight when fighting, but the experience of combat is actually really very relaxing for her. Off the battlefield, Kaok is the kind and respectful sort, not bubbly, but still marginally out-going. She's mellow most of the time, except in certain cases where one attempts to piss her off, or in which she's frightened - the only time that she feels frightened or uncomfortable will generally be a time that someone is discussing sex or nudity. Or is nude. Her accent can be found here , but it once sounded something like a Greek accent. The word choice and sentence structure that she uses varies from impressively intelligent to painfully blunt and to the point. At times she can go off on long parrot-walks (off-topic conversation) or launch into a vibrant speech or get scientific on you. (At heart, she's a brainiac, though a somewhat different kind than people like Emma.) Not sure how she knows the word, she'll sometimes call herself a bit of a geek because of her rants. Relationships William Ackley : '''Everything that had been leaking out of her mind recently spilled over as soon as Emma entered. Kaok's memories were set on rewind, her military career melting away in seconds, all in black and white - honor went back into victory and back into blood and hardship - until the uniformed Faun was gone and all that was left was a startled young woman coming home to a beloved friend hanging from the ceiling. As she went backwards from the revelation, the memories bursted with vibrant color. The man who had previously been dead was now alive, albeit barely. He was depressed, and quite visibly, too. He tried to reach out to the Faun, but she pushed him away. She told him harsh words. Even then, Kaok thought, even then I was so afraid of weakness, even in others. Perhaps it was denial, her only role model and hero couldn't be so weak. A talking to was all he needed, it would fix him. It was apparent, going backwards, that this process had been repeated many times. It hurt to watch it again. Was this supposed to have happened...?' - ''Kaok recalls her mistake Even without ever having known that he was her father when he was alive, Kaok respected him as one. She felt forever indebted to him for teaching her all about the human world, and for accepting her so readily. Remus Fletcher : ''"And if it weren't for you, I'd be nothing but my job. I'd be even less fun to be around." - ''Kaok Kaok first saw Remus as an equal, then a hero, and then slowly he became the man that she couldn't live without. She risked her life trying to save him, and nearly went mad along the way. Lady Emma of Bainbridge Emma has a strange knack for saving Kaok's life or sanity. On several occasions she cleared the Faun's mind of painful thoughts, and at one point gave her own blood to save her life right on the spot - this has formed a sort of bond between them that transfers feelings across. Kaok views Emma as a motherly figure and one of her greatest heroes. Cyril and Adelpha Kostas After having defected to Rome, Kaok was in a strange place that she didn't understand. After finding the Grecian district on Mars, she began to frequent the Eygenko Katsika, a restaurant owned by Cyril Kostas - who resided upstairs the establishment with his wife Adelpha. He's a nice old man (to most) who grumbles at his wife sometimes, and Kaok and he quickly formed a bond of friendship. Dr. James Cairndeer James is one of Kaok's best friends, though they have a strange relationship. Most of the time that they talk to each other, they speak in petty insults and other repartee. Trivia *Originally, Kaok and Drennis were meant to get together, but he was made too different to ever actually be with her. *Because her name means rabbit, Cairndeer will occasionally call her 'Banny' to her annoyance *Her birthday is August 19 - the day that her real-life creator got Faun's Legs on Gaia. *Has a scar on her rear end in the shape of a question mark, she claims the story behind it is interesting. Category: Fauns Category: Half-Humans Category: Gaia Natives Category: Soldiers Category: Battledomers Category: Resistance Members